Weeks after neighbors found an East Ridge couple dead in their home on Ealy Road, the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled that the woman died from natural causes and the man committed suicide.

The medical examiner could not determine which of the pair died first.

The man, identified as John Frost, was found in a recliner with his right hand in his lap holding a pistol, while his companion of 20 years, Cynthia Luedke Bryant, was discovered lying on her back in a hallway next to a cordless phone.

She died from heart disease, the examiner ruled; he, from a gunshot wound to the head. She was 51, and he was 55.

Neighbors found the pair June 21 after noticing that mail and newspapers were accumulating outside the home.

At the time, neighbors speculated that Frost may have discovered Bryant's body and committed suicide. Or it could have happened the other way around: she might have found him dead in the recliner and died from the shock.